Inbound marketing is still a new term, especially around Western NY and Northern PA. We have given inbound marketing seminars for many of the local businesses, most of which are aware of Twitter, try and use Facebook, talked about SEO...but beyond that their inbound marketing efforts are lackluster. The one area that is very hard for these businesses to grasp is knowledge sharing.
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Not long ago Josh wrote a post about the slow adoption of Twitter in the rural PA area. One of the big barriers to entry he noted was the lack of consistent high speed internet access. Many folks in our area of small town Pennsylvania are still using 56k connections or even satellite downlink connections where data access is limited or unavailable. This makes the user experience for services like Twitter annoyingly sluggish, and with limited 3G and non-existent 4G LTE mobile data coverage much of the fun of mobile services like Twitter is inaccessible to folks in the area.
Read moreGuess what! Another social network has cropped up from a little company in California called Google. They call this social network Google+ and it is the first true competitor to Facebook that I have seen so far. Here're a few videos produced by Google to explain the features of Google+:
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We've said it before and we'll say it again...you need to urge people to check in at your locations using location-based social media services. Yes, you will get some check-ins if you don't, but the volume and quality will be greater if you do. This is true everywhere but even more relevant for small businesses running brick-and-mortar establishments in rural areas. Check-in services are still relatively new and many rural areas are behind the game in these types of things. With a little awareness and activity amongst friends, the ability to take advantage of these services from a marketing perspective is much greater. Aside from putting a sign on your front door asking for check-ins, one of the easiest ways to get people to participate is to have a special offer.
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One of the coolest features of Google Android-powered mobile phones and tablets is the built-in voice search. Just tap a button, speak your search query aloud and your phone will automatically do a Google search for you. Recently Google built the voice search functionality into the desktop version of their Chrome web browser, so now you can speak your queries on your desktop or laptop computer too! How does it work?
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Recently, Josh and I have had the opportunity to give our seminar on Inbound Marketing principles in various areas of Northwest Pennsylvania. As a web marketing firm, it is very motivating to see all of the small businesses in our area so interested in using the web and it's abundant marketing resources to grow their businesses. It is also very frustrating that the most common problem is that there is a clear lack of understanding on where to start.
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It's no secret that Twitter has not caught up in rural areas...especially in Pennsylvania. If you have ever been around PA you'll know that much of it is rural, and depending on your interests that is either a pro or a con.
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We talk a lot about how important developing a social media strategy is for small businesses as an invaluable inbound marketing platform, but have you considered using an internal social media solution to boost communication and information flow throughout your organization? It's a lot easier to do than you'd expect. More and more businesses are integrating a social element into their company's intranet, allowing employees to interact with each other like never before via blogs, RSS and even podcasting. Below you'll find some free and easy-to-use ideas for starting your own internal social network.
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Video is probably the most under-utilized media when it comes to small businesses attempting to reach new customers online, however it might be the most compelling route to take from a consumer's standpoint. There's no better way to highlight a product or service than with video, and although there is a little more work involved than with writing a blog post or recording an audio podcast, ultimately your potential return is huge. Of course everyone knows about the power of websites like YouTube, but there are some other great free video sharing services that add even more functionality that you might not have considered! In this blog post I'm going to run down a few of my favorites, including what makes each of them attractive from a small business standpoint.
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For years we have been working hard to get the best Google Page Rank possible so that our products and services appear when a prospect is looking for our offerings. It's time to add Facebook's EdgeRank to our efforts.
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If you are executing digital marketing, congratulations! You are most likely already one step ahead of your competition, and making strides to meaningfully connect with prospects online. But, how do you know if you’re seeing continual success year over year, and improving your metrics?
Without the tools in place to analyze and benchmark your efforts, it is impossible to scale your online marketing and ensure continuous success.
